Soldiers kill Palestinian at checkpoint

A Palestinian man on Saturday was shot to death at the Bekaot checkpoint near the West Bank village of Tubas, southeast of Nablus.

The IDF said the man was carrying two pipe bombs and a knife.

Previous Incident

Palestinian shot to death at roadblock / Yair Altman

Troops open fire at man approaching IDF force southeast of Nablus with broken glass bottle in his hand, say he refused to stop. Palestinian eyewitnesses: He was unarmed. Army launches investigation into incident

Eyewitnesses said the Palestinian got out of a cab and approached the checkpoint while yelling "Allahu Akbar." Passengers who were with him in the taxi began to walk away as they feared he might be carrying an explosive device.

According to eyewitness reports, the man wore a long coat and soldiers suspected he might be hiding explosives. The soldiers ordered the suspect to stop and then opened fire.

A sapper who was called to the scene found two pipe bombs on the Palestinian's body.

Palestinian sources identified the man as 25-year-old Khaldoon Samoudi from the village of al-Yamun in the Jenin area.

2nd incident in a week

On Sunday, a Palestinian was shot to death at the same checkpoint. Soldiers claimed Mahmoud Muhammad Dharaghma, 20, ignored an order to stop, but Palestinian sources later said that he was unarmed.

"A female soldier screamed, and her friends fired live ammunition," said a Palestinian eyewitness. Eight bullets were fired at Dharaghma.

On Friday, IDF forces accidently shot to death Hebron resident Amr Qawasme, while they were on the way to detain a suspect living one floor beneath Qawasme. The soldiers claimed the victim tried to attack them, but his wife said he was sleeping in his bed
at the time of the incident.